“It’s fairly obvious that using substances is more important to him than anything else.”
Fairly?
When NFL Hall of Fame receiver Cris Carter made that declaration earlier this week, speaking of troubled Browns’ receiver Josh Gordon, it was clear that “anything else” included his career.
And his employers.
And his teammates.
And his fans.
Nothing matters more to the ultra-talented Gordon than getting high, and that is precisely why the Browns should just swallow hard and release the NFL’s reigning receiving yards leader before the team becomes collateral damage as the man destroys his career.
That’s right. Cut him.
The Browns knew precisely what they were getting when they gambled and selected Gordon in the 2012 supplemental draft. Or at least, they should have.
As a sophomore at Baylor, Gordon was a month into his 2010 season before he and a teammate were arrested for using marijuana, having been found asleep in a drive-thru lane.
Roughly eight months later, knowing his scholarship and his college career were on the line, Gordon was busted again, earning an indefinite suspension from the team. The young receiver admitted he had failed a marijuana test, knowing he was already playing with one strike against him.
That was the first real sign of what Carter would say three years later — that getting stoned was more important to Gordon than anything else.
Banished from the Baylor team, Gordon found a new home in Utah.

But before suiting up for the Utes, he decided to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft from which the Browns selected him. No one knows exactly what changed his mind about playing in Utah, but one educated guess is that he would likely have been on a zero-tolerance policy with coach Kyle Whittingham, who was boldly offering Gordon a second chance.
Gordon wasn’t taking that chance, because a third NCAA strike would likely have cost him any shot he may have had at reaching the NFL. With only two infractions on his resume, he at least stood a chance at convincing NFL general managers and scouts that his troubled days were behind him.
“They (NFL scouts) want to know what kind of character guy I am,” Gordon said in August 2011, discussing his intention to sit out the college season and enter the supplemental draft. “They want to know if I can be trusted. They want to know if I’m going to be a guy that always has off-the-field issues. I want to make it clear I’m not going to be that guy.”
Find a mirror, Josh. Look into it closely. You are that guy.
As badly as Gordon’s college career ended due to his inability or unwillingness to stay away from drugs, his professional career has been worse. He was suspended for four games last June, although it was later reduced to two, for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, which is a clear indication that he was already in Stage 2 of the league’s drug program. No player can be suspended, according to the policy, for a first offense.
That means Gordon was already in Stage 3 of the drug program when he was informed over the winter that he had tested positive for marijuana once again. A Stage 3 violation would effectively banish Gordon from the league — and more importantly from the Browns — for a minimum of one year, after which he would have to apply for reinstatement from the commissioner, which is not automatic.
That brings us to Memorial Day weekend.
Gordon’s speeding ticket for doing 74 in a 60-mph zone in Strongsville is largely irrelevant. What is relevant, however, is the fact that he had three friends in his car at the time, and that one or all of them had been smoking weed recently enough as to alert the police officer to the smell when he stopped them.
Gordon was, of course, not charged with possession of the marijuana. The three passengers probably played rock-paper-scissors to decide who was going to take the fall and keep the drugs out of Gordon’s hands, and one would hope that the loser of the contest got paid handsomely by his NFL buddy. But the fact remains that Gordon, already facing a full year away from the game — at minimum — was still unable to stay away from drugs even as NFL officials were mulling over his banishment.
So why cut he most dynamic returning player on the club, you ask? Simple.
Because the Browns, even if Gordon were to serve his ban and rejoin the team in 2015, would never, ever know if they could count on their best offensive player being there for them.
Think about it.
If the prospect of earning many, many millions of dollars in a new contract, after having the most prolific receiving season in the history of the Browns’ franchise, and if the possibility of having his career ended before he even turns 25 isn’t incentive enough for Gordon to put down his bong, is there anything that would?
And if it’s agreed upon that there is nothing that can assure General Manager Ray Farmer and Coach Mike Pettine that their star player has turned away from drugs for good, how could they possibly make personnel decisions from year to year not knowing if Gordon would even be in the league?
Farmer: “Do we sign a receiver in free agency this offseason? Or do we draft one?”
Pettine: “Why?”
Farmer: “You knoooowwwww. Just in case.”
“It’s always been very, very important to him,” Carter said of Gordon and drugs. “It’s well-documented that it’s been primary since early college. Maybe it even goes back to early high school.”
It probably does. It may forever be a life-long problem. And if the Browns are smart, it will soon be someone else’s problem.
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Bob Frantz hosts “The Bob Frantz Show” on WTAM-AM 1100 from 7 p.m. to midnight weeknights, and following Cavaliers, Indians and Browns games.